Turkish partnership

Reading Football Club are very pleased to have signed a mutual working agreement with Turkish giants Galatasaray.

Having welcomed senior officials from Galatasaray to Madejski Stadium and Hogwood Park late last year, Chief Executive Nigel Howe and Director Chris Samuelson were in Turkey this week to meet with President Unal Aysal, CEO Lutfi Aribogan & Sportif Koordinator Bulent Tulun and finalise an exciting partnership.

The arrangement will see the clubs work together on a number of aspects including the share of knowledge on and off the pitch, close co-operation between our first teams and Academies, training support and joint scouting, especially in Africa and further afield. We will also look to arrange friendly matches if our schedules allow, and we will continue to work together on many more opportunities from a footballing, branding and operational perspective. Galatasaray will spread the name of Reading FC in Turkey and we will do the same here in the Barclays Premier League.

The ink is still drying on our agreement so the fruits of the clubs’ labour may not be seen immediately, but in the fullness of time we hope to see benefits for all parties and this has the potential to be a step forward for our club.

Chief Executive Nigel Howe said, “We are delighted to have signed this agreement and both clubs see this as a great opportunity. Working together with a club the size of Galatasaray can bring great positives to us at Reading. This is the first time we have entered into such an agreement and to do it with a club the size of Galatasaray is a real coup and we look forward to now bringing it to fruition.”

Director Chris Samuelson said, “Galatasaray are a huge club, not just in Turkey but across the world. For example the Turkish community in London is substantial, and of course we have our own links to Turkey already with Jem Karacan doing so well for us from our Academy. There are many aspects to this, the exchange of information at youth and first team levels, the possibility of friendly games, the list goes on. We are in the early stages right now but these are exciting times for both clubs.”

Galatasaray are one of the biggest clubs in the world and have further strengthened their standing recently by adding Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder to a squad already full of top names and pushing in the last 16 of this season’s UEFA Champions League. They are top of the Turkish Super Liga by six points, having won the Super Liga 18 times in their history, as well as 14 Turkish Cups.